Set in my long-running Krevborna setting, my novel is definitely in the dark fantasy/Gothic fantasy style, but with a few surprises. In lieu of writing the tradition back cover copy, this is how I describe the novel:
Death and Art
A grave robber and her automaton companion search for an absent corpse and a missing book of poems…
Heaven and Hell
A devil-worshipping bard plots the murder of an angel...
Love and Blood
A monster hunter and his witchy lover seek to thwart the rise of a pagan death goddess…
Now, as a first-time novelist, you might have some reservations about giving me, a relative unknown, your time and money. Well, why not try before you buy? At this link you can read the first three chapters of the novel in full.
If you're a reader looking for books informed by an author's idiosyncratic interests and obsessions, I think you'll find Ornamental Women to be chock full of my particularities rather than doing the paint by numbers trope checklist thing. While I won't say that my novel is a an entirely new kind of storytelling or anything like that, I don't know of any dark fantasy novels that have:
- A plot inspired by the history of Pre-Raphaelite art
- A first date in an absinthe bar
- Bards powered by the Gothic fantasy equivalent of black metal
- A grave robbing heroine who suffers from depression
- A nunsploitation-inspired chapter set in a brothel
- An automation discovering the joys of a little free library
- Freaks with mensur fighting scars, a different freak with a monstrous six-fingered hand, and yet another set of freaks with a fetish for redheads.
In short, my ideal reader is a sicko who loves dark fantasy, the Gothic, and Victoriana.
Also, it's important to me that you know this: no AI technology was used in the creation of this book. I wrote it using ideas from my human brain and typed it up with my human hands. You deserve better than AI slop.
I sincerely hope some of you pick up my novel and give it a read. I'm totally biased, but I think it's actually a really fun read with action, horror, magic, mystery, and a dash of romance.
After some pages of your free sample I just got the kindle edition. Would buy the physical copy if it shipped to regular bookstores here in Germany as I have a standing principle of minimizing interactions with Amazon. I hope you earn the same amount either way. Nice pricing for that e-book, by the way. I almost feel guilty buying it at that rate. Looking forward to reading it.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the purchase! I totally understand your feelings about Amazon; unfortunately, that was the easiest way to get the book out there. Would that it were otherwise.
DeleteOh I absolutely get it. You find my books on Amazon as well - although that is just part of the deal with the local print-on-demand-service I work with and thus one can order them in any bookstore here in Germany as well (which I encourage people to do). I mean, ideally people would buy the books directly at the print-service but, let's face it, I haven't sold more than two books via their platform. You can't get around Amazon right now (unless, I suppose, you're some crazy niche-dude with a rabid following and sell stuff from your own home or something like that).
DeleteWish that I was!
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